Category Archives: Current Events

December 10, 2012 · 00:17

Bah! Humbug!

Scrooge

Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? … He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:6,8)

 At the risk of being labeled a Scrooge, I feel compelled to express my growing disillusion with the Christmas season and all the trappings associated with it.  Don’t get me wrong; I love Christmas, or at least I love what Christmas is supposed to signify – the condescension of the Creator God to take on the human form of His creation embodied in a helpless baby.  The thought is too awesome for words!  Yet that idea is all but lost in the midst of the tumult that has become “the holiday season.”

Beginning in October, even before the celebration of death (Halloween), which God calls the enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26) and Thanksgiving, which has become more a ritual of gluttony and football than a time to seriously pause to give thanks to God for all of His provision, the Christmas mass-marketing scheme is in full force.  This year on Thanksgiving Day the tryptophan was not even out of our systems when stores opened late to get a jump on the Black Friday spending spree.

The saying that “Christmas is for children” is meaningless these days.  Marketeers cleverly target the growing avarice in our society by creating the illusion that their product will bring genuine happiness or fill some sort of desperate need.  Mercedes-Benz has Santa loading up cars on delivery trucks – one line of red cars for his “naughty” list and white for his “nice” list.  So, even if you are “naughty” Santa will still get you what you want.  Buick has a commercial where a young man is presenting his wife (I hope) a new car for Christmas, when a brand new Buick Enclave drives by and the young woman loses interest in the car her husband (I hope) has given her as she stares lustfully after the Enclave.  Lexus, Cadillac, Nissan, etc. all have ads tempting the viewer through “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).  Car manufacturers are not the only culprits.  Rosetta Stone has a cute commercial where a little boy is brought to Santa.  Santa addresses the boy in English, the boy responds in German, so Santa instantly switches to speaking German because Santa learned to speak German by using the Rosetta Stone language learning software.  The list could go on and on.

I hear Christians lament the commercialization of Christmas, but we are just as guilty as the secular world of going overboard on spending just because “it’s the season of giving.”  We bemoan the “war on Christmas” but our Christian radio stations are just as likely to play “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” as “Oh Come All Ye Faithful.”  Big mega church productions of Christmas pageants typically devote the first half of the program to secular music and dancing (choreography for Baptists) and reserve the best for last – the true Christmas story.  What I am saying is that we are guilty of accommodating at best, or assimilating with, at worst, the secular world.  Then we whine because the world is losing the real meaning of Christmas!  Well, I have news! Christmas, although not called by that name, has always been a pagan celebration.  We stole their celebration, put a Christian spin on it, and now we are complaining because they are taking it back!

Without going into great detail that you can “Google” on your own, Christmas was not observed in the early Christian church until around the mid fourth century when Pope Julius I (A.D. 337-352) sanctioned the celebration of the Nativity to coincide with the Roman celebration of the winter solstice called Saturnalia.  Santa Claus originated from a third century bishop by the name of Nicholas of Myra (in Turkey) who was renowned for his generosity, which, by the way, was not limited to December 25th.  We can thank Clement C. Moore (1779 – 1863) for the red suit and the “miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.”

The Christmas tree is considered by some as Christianisation [sic] of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the Winter Solstice, which included the use of evergreen boughs, and an adaptation of pagan tree worship; according to eighth-century biographer Æddi Stephanus, Saint Boniface (634–709), who was a missionary in Germany, took an axe to an oak tree dedicated to Thor and pointed out a fir tree, which he stated was a more fitting object of reverence because it pointed to heaven and it had a triangular shape, which he said was symbolic of the Trinity. (Wikipedia)

As Christians, we should know that Jesus was not born on December 25th, but most likely sometime in late August or September.  When you think about it, God probably kept the date of His birth a secret precisely so that we would not turn it into the circus it has become.  He is not interested in our participation in meaningless rituals, but rather our genuine devotion to Him at all times.  What would happen if Christians stopped shopping for Christmas gifts for one another and instead gave that money spent to the Lord?  Would we be any less blessed?  My guess is that God would bless us even more!  What would happen to the commercialism of Christmas if Christians stopped buying?  Maybe the commercialization would become less overt. What if we practiced our generosity all year round and not reserve it just for Christmas?  What if we celebrated Christ’s advent all year round instead of just once a year?  What difference does December 25th make?  What is important is that God came into this world as a baby, to experience the same aches and pains we experience, to be faced with the same temptations we face, and then to willingly take our place on the cross to pay the death penalty we owed.  Our gifts should be presented to the One who saves, not to the ones He died to save.  That God took on human form in order to redeem us unto Himself is a significant event worthy of remembrance, but perhaps in a way that honors Him, not our own hubris.

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Filed under Apologetics, Christianity, Christmas, Current Events, Evangelism, Religion, Salvation

November 19, 2012 · 22:16

Chosen From the Womb

… God, who separated me from my mother’s womb … (Galatians 1:15)

Paul, in making his case to the Galatians for his apostleship, makes a striking statement that is overlooked or blatantly ignored by the proponents of easy abortions.  Sadly, a large number of so-called Christians fall into this camp.  Here, Paul states in no uncertain terms that his call “to preach him among the heathen” (v. 16) came before he was even born.

That human life is precious to God is clearly demonstrated in the pages of the Bible.  When Cain murdered his brother Abel, God quickly called him to account:  “What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.  And now art thou cursed from the earth which hath opened up her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood” (Genesis 4:10-11).  Then to discourage others from murdering Cain, “the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold” (Genesis 4:15).  Over a millennia and a half later, when Noah exited the ark, God assigned the protection of life to man: “And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.  Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (Genesis 9:5-6).

Then the question arises, “When does life begin?”  To the biologist, human life begins at the union of the sperm with the ovum, but to the secular scientist, that is “biological” human life (Greek: bíos) without the essence (Greek: zoé) of humanity or “personhood.”  This then becomes a philosophical question.  Does the “thing” become a person at conception, or after the first trimester from conception, or after the second, or the third?  Some go so far assign the quality of personhood long after the birth of the creature, even up to three years.  Killing such a creature can then be justified seeing “it” is not a “person.”

God makes no such distinctions.  From the moment of conception, and even before then, the child is a human being, a person – the image of God.  To make this point clear, God established laws to protect the child in the womb making it a capital offense to take the life of a fully developed unborn child. (Exodus 21:22-23).   The psalmist declares “My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:15-16).  God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah and said, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).  Life is precious to God.  Even before conception He has devised a plan for every life He creates in the womb.  Since it is God that creates, gives and sustains life, abortion is never justified or acceptable from His perspective.  That being so, it makes sense that anyone who fears God, would and should share the same perspective.

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November 11, 2012 · 22:41

Mourn for the Nation

And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord.  (Nehemiah 1:4)

Nehemiah was chief steward, butler or “cupbearer” for the Persian king Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:11).  His position was one of great confidence before the king.  One of his main functions was to taste the king’s food and drink before serving it to him to ensure that it was not poisoned (Nehemiah 2:1).  Nehemiah would be comparable to the secret service agents that surround our President today and are willing take a bullet for him.

One can imagine that with a position of such great responsibility, Nehemiah was well compensated and had not a care in the world as far as material possessions are concerned.  His job was secure, and he probably enjoyed all the finer things in life.  Materially speaking, Nehemiah had nothing for which to be sad (Nehemiah 2:1).  But news from Judah wounded his spirit deeply so that he “wept and mourned” for several days.  The people of Judah were “afflicted” and defenseless (Nehemiah 1:3), and while Nehemiah was far removed from problem, he could identify with and relate to the problem of what he considered to be his nation.

Nehemiah was deeply grieved for his nation and his people, but he did more than weep and mourn over the situation.  He “fasted and prayed before the Lord.”  He interceded “for the children of Israel.”  He confessed “the sins of the children of Israel” and acknowledged “we [all of Israel] have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house” (Nehemiah 1:6) – he did not exclude himself.  He reminded God of His promise to “scatter you abroad among the nations: But if ye turn unto me … I will gather them from thence …” (Nehemiah 1:8-9).  Nehemiah did not stop there.  He committed himself to be used of God personally to affect change in his nation: “prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man [Artaxerxes]” (Nehemiah 1:11).

At the time of this writing, a heavy, dark cloud looms over our beloved nation.  Like the children of Israel, we have been so richly blessed by God.  Now, after more than 236 years, we have cast God aside and have forgotten Him.  As a result, we are reaping what we have sown as a nation.  Yet, while life remains, there is hope.  As children of God, it is up to us not merely to weep and mourn the erosion of our liberty, but like Nehemiah, we must fast and pray acknowledging our sin in confession.  Then, when we have fasted and prayed for several days, we must assume personal responsibility and take action to rebuild the walls and the gates that have crumbled by the decay of neglect.  The America of our Founders Fathers no longer exists, and we may never again see the America of only 50 or 60 years ago, but as Christians, we are citizens of “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10) and we “desire a better country, that is, an heavenly [country] … for [God] hath prepared for us a city” (Hebrews 11:16).   The current state of that city here on earth is in dire need of repair, and whereas we may not be able to affect that state of our nation, we can still rebuild the crumbling walls of our faith.  We need to pray for and work toward revival in our nation, regardless of the powers that be.

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October 7, 2012 · 21:29

Rightful King

 

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shi’loh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (Genesis 49:10)

This is readily recognized as Messianic prophesy identifying the coming Messiah as a descendant of Judah.  The scepter, the rod indicating the king’s authority, was assigned to the tribe of Judah, never to depart until the coming of the “One Who Brings Peace” (the meaning of Shiloh).

It is interesting that Israel’s first king, Saul, was not from the tribe of Judah, but rather from the tribe of Benjamin.  First Samuel 12 records the ascension of Saul, Israel’s first king.  Saul was the people’s choice, not God’s.  “Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ra’-mah, And said unto him … make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:4-5).  Failure is assured when God’s people try to pattern themselves after the world, and once that route is chosen God will often stand back and let it happen.  “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).  We are all guilty of that at one time or another.  We do not want God ruling over us, so instead we opt for the fallacious idea of “self-rule.”  The idea of self-rule is fallacious because no one is truly a free agent, but I digress.

The wisdom of the world is never optimal.  By the world’s standards, Saul was “a choice young man, and [handsome]: and there was not among the children of Israel a [handsomer] person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people” (1 Samuel 9:2); but whereas “man looketh on the outward appearance … the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Israel’s choice was nothing like what God had planned for Israel.  “Behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! And, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you” (1 Samuel 12:13).  Note that even though Saul was the people’s choice, God assumes the responsibility for setting him up.  This is something to keep in mind in the upcoming election.  No matter who wins, ultimately it is God who will set him over us.  Even after God allowed Israel’s poor choice, He still shows mercy toward them.  “For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it has pleased the LORD to make you his people” (1 Samuel 12:22).  It is comforting to know that even when we make poor choices, God will not abandon us.  We have the promise that “The One Who Brings Peace” will come and reclaim His creation, and from Him “the scepter shall not depart.”

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July 29, 2012 · 17:16

Making God Laugh

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?  (Psalm 2:1)

The Bibles tells us “that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).  These “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13) while “Professing themselves to be wise, they [have become] fools” (Romans 1:22).

As the return of Christ approaches, we see the fulfillment of this prophesy all around us.  Hostility toward “God’s Anointed” and those who follow Him is rapidly increasing.  The word translated “heathen” here is the Hebrew word gowyim meaning non-Jewish nations or people.  It could also be translated “gentiles” referring to those who are not the people of God.  From a New Testament perspective, these would be any who are not Christians, and therefore not a part of God’s family.  These are they that “rage,” that is, they assemble as a tumultuous mob “against the LORD, and his anointed” [His Messiah; His Christ] (v. 2).

They “imagine a vain thing” (v. 1), that is, they imagine something that will never happen.  They rebel against God and say, “Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us” (v. 3).  Their end has been predetermined:  “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Ar-ma-ged’-don” (Revelation 16:16) “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.  These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.  And the remnant were slain with the sword of him [Christ] that sat upon the horse” (Revelation 19:20-21).

Although God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), man’s obstinate and overt rebellion against His Anointed would be almost comical, if it were not so sad.  “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Romans 9:20).  The question is ludicrous!  “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision” (v. 4).

As the day of His return approaches we see more and more blatant attacks on Christians and Christianity by our government and by the liberal media.  These attacks will only grow worse as a lost populace lashes out against God and His people.  Little do they know that God just laughs at their insolence, but “Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (v. 12).

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